The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

Julian Grant didn’t get in the car with Sean Sinclair.

He was in considerable shock.

The drop from the deck to the water was so high, and the water in autumn and winter was bone-chilling.

’Was it really necessary?’

’Did she have to go that far?’

Julian Grant felt that this wasn’t the Sarah Lynch he knew.

When they were abroad, Sarah Lynch had always talked about how to perfect her projects and how to build her career after returning home, not about fighting with someone over a man, even to the point of harming herself.

Daniel Lane looked at Julian Grant, sighed, and said, "I’ll take you back to the hotel. You got wet when you tried to grab Sarah Lynch. Go back, take a shower, and don’t catch a cold."

"Don’t worry about Sarah Lynch. If President Sinclair was willing to dive in and save her, he won’t just abandon her."

Daniel Lane didn’t understand why Julian Grant insisted on getting involved in this mess.

What was so attractive about Sarah Lynch, anyway?

Whether as Mr. Grant or as Counselor Grant, what kind of stunning woman couldn’t he have?

Daniel Lane decided to ask anyway. "Why are you getting mixed up in this? Nathaniel Cole is involved, and your father is close with the Neville family."

"Did this Sarah Lynch woman save your life or something?"

Julian Grant looked out the window. "Something like that."

In China, getting drugged might just be a simple case of being slipped something, an issue you could relieve by finding a woman.

But getting drugged abroad could involve substances strictly forbidden and universally detested back home. Once you touched them, it would become a lifelong war against yourself, a battle to the death.

Hearing him say that, Daniel Lane was at a loss for words.

He wanted to change the subject, to ask Julian Grant if he found Leila Jennings’s facial features somewhat familiar.

But he felt it was inappropriate to say this to Julian Grant’s face. It would sound like he was accusing Julian Grant’s father of having an affair.

’Better not to ask.’

...

Sarah Lynch, her face deathly pale, curled up in Sean Sinclair’s arms.

Julian Grant didn’t understand why she had to fight for Sean Sinclair’s affection.

But she had no choice but to fight.

If Sean Sinclair didn’t stand by her, what would she do about that sum of money?

She couldn’t pay it back.

Julian Grant could pay it back, but behind him was the Grant family. Would the Grant family agree? No, they wouldn’t.

Julian Grant wasn’t entirely his own master.

Sean Sinclair supported the Sinclair family on his own; he could make his own decisions.

He made the decision to marry Leila Jennings, and he made the decision to give her the money.

If Leila Jennings were just an ordinary housewife, she wouldn’t have had to scheme so hard.

She would have walked the path her grandfather paved for her and had a bright future.

Sean Sinclair would have loved her even more, and with just a few words or a small gesture, she could have convinced him to divorce the ordinary Leila Jennings.

But as it turned out, Leila Jennings was no ordinary person who could be easily manipulated.

She possessed an identity that was difficult for others to suppress—an identity that would become dazzling if exposed to the public.

And because of this, Leila Jennings had derailed her predetermined path.

She was removed from the proprietary chip project, her reputation was ruined along with it, and if she couldn’t hold on to Sean Sinclair, what would she have left?

She had to hold on to something.

Otherwise, she would become a complete joke.

In the end, Sean Sinclair still chose to jump into the water to save her and bring her back, rather than stay on the cruise ship and wait for Leila Jennings.

’Leila Jennings must have seen that, right?’

’She must understand that you can’t force love, right?’

’She must know it’s time to let go, right?’

「On the way back to The Aquarina.」

Sean Sinclair got out of the car to buy medicine to prevent colds and fevers, as well as a digital thermometer.

Back at the apartment, Sean Sinclair was in the living room boiling water to mix with the medicine. Sarah Lynch had changed into a clean nightgown and was sitting propped up against the headboard.

Watching Sean Sinclair prepare her medicine and take her temperature, it felt like she had returned to those warm moments right after she came back to the country.

BEEP. Sean Sinclair looked at the thermometer and said, "No fever. Drink some medicine as a precaution."

"Thank you, Sean." Sarah Lynch took the cup and drank the medicine.

After she finished drinking, Sean Sinclair got straight to the point. "Why did you jump?"

Sarah Lynch froze. "What?"

Sean Sinclair said in a firm tone, "I’m asking you why you jumped in yourself."

Sarah Lynch replied in an equally firm tone, "I fell in by accident."

’How accidental could that be?’

Sean Sinclair didn’t believe her.

Sarah Lynch looked him in the eye and said, "Sean, you know I can’t swim. How could I possibly..."

"You know you can’t swim, too!" Sean Sinclair looked furious.

Sarah Lynch gave a slight smile. "You’re worried about me."

Sean Sinclair’s lips parted slightly, then closed again.

As if resigned, he said, "Don’t ever do that again. Sarah, between us..."

Some things needed to be said clearly.

But looking at Sarah Lynch’s pale face, he felt tonight wasn’t the right time.

"You should get some rest." Sean Sinclair stood up.

Sarah Lynch shifted, asking him, "Where are you going?"

"Back." He looked down at his soaked clothes. Even though he had wrung them out a bit, they still clung to him uncomfortably.

Sarah Lynch wanted him to stay, but she didn’t dare ask him to.

If he stayed and someone with ulterior motives took a picture, it would be over.

"Sean, will you come see me tomorrow?" Sarah Lynch coughed lightly.

Sean Sinclair averted his gaze. "I’m not sure. If you can’t take care of yourself, you can call for one of the Jacobs family’s maids to come and take you back."

He opened the door and left.

There was a change of clothes in the car. Sean Sinclair changed and drove back to the riverside pier. The cruise ship was just docking, and people from the Cole Group were disembarking one after another.

It seemed the celebration was over.

He scanned the crowd, but instead of seeing Leila Jennings, he spotted Cecilia Sinclair first.

Cecilia Sinclair was looking around, as if searching for someone.

He got out of the car.

Cecilia Sinclair saw him too and immediately jogged over. "Brother, what are you doing here?"

Sean Sinclair asked the same question, "What are you doing here?"

"I’m looking for Sarah." She had to ask Sarah Lynch if what their mother had said was true.

But she had been waiting at this pier for a long time. The cruise ship didn’t dock on schedule; she heard someone had fallen into the water, so the ship had stopped at another pier for a while.

She waited and waited, all for nothing.

She nearly froze to death by the river.

When the cruise ship finally docked, she went aboard and looked around but couldn’t find Sarah Lynch at all, and her calls wouldn’t go through.

Feeling like she’d been stood up, Cecilia Sinclair grew even angrier.

Since she couldn’t ask Sarah Lynch in person, asking her brother was the next best thing.

"Brother, Mom told me. All your money these past few years has been spent on Sarah, not held back by Leila Jennings, right?"

Sean Sinclair’s pupils contracted.

The pier was bustling with people, mostly employees from the Cole Group. Cecilia Sinclair had no filter!

"No." Sean Sinclair denied it flatly.

Cecilia Sinclair had always trusted her brother, but after their mother’s tirade today, and the analysis she’d offered, it all made a lot of sense.

"You’re just trying to fool me, aren’t you?"

"Get in the car." Sean Sinclair pulled Cecilia Sinclair, shoved her into the passenger seat, and slammed the door shut with a THUD, locking it.

Cecilia Sinclair pounded on the window. When her brother didn’t react, she started bombarding him with calls from her phone.

Sean Sinclair silenced his phone, his gaze fixed on the cruise ship’s exit.

He waited until the crowd dispersed, but he never saw any sign of Leila Jennings.

’She must have left long ago.’

A flicker of disappointment crossed Sean Sinclair’s eyes as he got back in the car. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Cecilia Sinclair relentlessly pressed him, "Brother, is what Mom said true or not? Did you give all your money to Sarah? Is that why I don’t have the money to go abroad?"

Sean Sinclair knew how persistent Cecilia could be. Since their parents already knew, he didn’t mind his sister knowing too.

But he didn’t admit it directly.

Cecilia had a big mouth.

"Part of it was an investment, and part of it was a loan."

"A loan?" Cecilia Sinclair believed him, but that didn’t stop her from getting angry. "You have money to lend her but not enough to care for our family? No way! I’m going to find Sarah and make her pay back every cent she borrowed from you!"